Army made a scapegoat in J&K: Raju
Defending the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as an “essential instrument” which gives troops a “security blanket” to operate in strife-torn areas, minister of state for defence M.M. Pallam Raju on Tuesday said the Army was being “demonised” and made a “scapegoat” in Jammu and Kashmir.
“My assessment is that the bigger challenge in J&K is meeting the aspirations of the people,” the minister said, whether it be to ensure “opportunity, commerce or peace”.
He said the presence of the Army is helping the cause since it is fighting the infiltrators. “Infiltration is a challenge that the Army is dealing with effectively,” he said. Speaking about the visit of the all-party delegation to Kashmir, he said the delegation is trying to mediate and added that he was sure that the “outcome will be fruitful” and “peace will return to the Valley”.
The minister observed that the Army is being “demonised” although it is not responsible for the situation in J&K. “Army becomes the scapegoat,” he said.
While a debate is raging on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the J&K government has been pressing for the dilution of the AFSPA.
On the AFSPA, the minister said, “The AFSPA has been an essential instrument for the armed forces to go about confidently... You don’t want somebody thrusting human rights violations on our soldiers.” He further added, “So you have to give some amount of security blanket to these guys who are doing a hard job and you really don’t know in conflict places where the threat is coming from and how the terror element is going to strike”.
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